Floating Farmacy Provides Plants and Herbs to Heal London

Traditional medicine may be the best choice for some ailments, but sometimes all we need is a little help from Mother Nature. Samantha Lee’s Farmacy is a floating urban farm that grows medicinal plants and herbs in a series of nets along the brick wall of Regent’s canal. The factory’s design employs a waterwheel to wash, dry, grind, and distill herbs into their commercial state.

The Farmacy was designed in response to a challenge from Nannette Jackowski and Ricardo de Ostos’s vertical studio at the Architectural Association to find out if extremes of programmatic effectiveness blend with the fragility of human habitat.

According to Lee, “the growth of the herbs takes place within nets, stretched along the deteriorated brick wall of Regent’s canal, where visitors either pass by to experience the fragrance of the herbal gardens, or can purchase from the pharmacies.” Lee’s Farmacy will only grow herbs and plants common to a certain place in an attempt to mesh with the area’s natural habitat. The Steampunk-inspired, waterwheel-like design could blend in perfectly along the water’s edge in any city, but is especially suited to the atmosphere of London.